The ACC is expected to announce a Grant of Rights agreement among its 15 members as early to today, CBSSports.com has learned.

ACC presidents are in the process of clearing this with their departments. The agreement will go to 2026-27, the duration of the league’s contract with ESPN. The deal is not official just yet but, barring an unforseen snag, will be completed.

Unless a league member decides to go to litigation to escape this down the road, the ACC believes a Grant of Rights will protect it from conference realignment poachers.

The North Carolina-based David Glenn Show reported the news Monday afternoon.

And all news outlets are saying their sources are saying the same thing. And unlike the raised exit fee issue from last year — where FSU and Maryland voted against it — this one is unanimous in the ACC.

In case you don’t know, the Grant of Rights is a deal where the schools assign their media rights (read: TV revenue) to the conference. As long as a school stays in that conference, it means very little. The school still gets its revenue from the TV deal per normal. But… if the school left for another conference, the revenue from their media deal in the new conference would go to the conference where they assigned the rights.

So if, say UNC left for the Big Ten, the money they get from the B1G in their media contract would go to the ACC rather than to UNC for the duration of the Grant of Rights.

The Big 12 made this a centerpiece of their salvage plan. It was seen as a huge stabilizer, more than a huge buyout clause. The Pac-12 also has a Grant of Rights.

What does that mean for the expansiopocolypse scenario of the Big Ten picking off Virginia and North Carolina, while the SEC grabs NC State and Virginia Tech. Then the Big 12 picks off Florida State and Clemson? Leaving Pitt in an ACC that is a lot like the old Big East only with Wake Forest instead of WVU?

Well, it means that vision is dead. It means that a lot of WVU message boards and blogs — along with their inside sources — are now looking for new conspiracy theories.

Does this truly mean the end of expansiopocolypse? I wouldn’t go that far. There is always a chance a school decides to challenge the Grant of Rights (GoR) contract in court. The same way that Maryland is fighting that $50 million exit fee from the ACC. But, a legal challenge to the GoR would be more terrifying for the Big 12 than the ACC.

Effectively, this means the Big Ten isn’t expanding for at least a decade unless it can pick off someone from the SEC (no GoR or exit fee) and/or BYU, USF, UConn and/or Cinci. This seems highly improbable. The Big 12 may actually have to stay at 10 whether it really wants to or not. Same with the SEC.

Some forced stability. At least until the next round of conference TV deals starts.

Greensboro, N.C. - The Atlantic Coast Conference Council of Presidents announced today that each of the current and future 15-member institutions has signed a grant of media rights, effective immediately.

“This announcement further highlights the continued solidarity and commitment by our member institutions,” said ACC Commissioner John Swofford. “The Council of Presidents has shown tremendous leadership in insuring the ACC is extremely well positioned with unlimited potential.”

“The ACC has long been a leader in intercollegiate athletics, both academically and athletically,” said the collective ACC Council of Presidents. “Collectively, we all agree the grant of rights further positions the ACC and its current and future member schools as one of the nation’s premier conferences.”

The ACC’s current and future 15-member institutions include:
Boston College
Clemson University
Duke University
Florida State University
Georgia Institute of Technology
University of Louisville
University of Miami
University of North Carolina
North Carolina State University
University of Notre Dame
University of Pittsburgh
Syracuse University
University of Virginia
Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University
Wake Forest University

Nice scoop Chas… this is huge for ACC stability even if it is to stop the chatter about unlikely scenarios of FSU in a Big 12. Now hopefully ACC can settle down and figure its endgame over the next few years.

keep wondering if ND is a blessing or curse… have them half in means ACC will wait and not expand… but will they ever come in?

this is a very good deal i love it but could you explain ND football thing.
i guess it just covers there BB and the 5 games they give the acc.
BUT could you explain that.
but i am sure no one leaves the acc now and do
you know when we sign the new tv deal for nd and there 5 games and how much more per school for
the acc.

Glad this ends all the “ACC is about to be raided talk.” After reading the press release Louisville and Notre Dame are included in the agreement. I would assume only Notre Dame non-ACC sports are exempt (Football and hockey). This firmly puts Notre Dame in the ACC if they want to join a conference in football.

Now that there’s a grant of rights, I think the ACC would go for UCONN before Cinci…less pressure from the football schools and they wanted UCONN when they took us and Syracuse. Question is, is BC still going to block it?

did ND sign up for this too? That would tie them into the ACC more than I thought they were prepared to do… assume Football is excluded?

definitely could now lead to ACC network?

UConn has the academics, geography and fits much more into the overall profile of an ACC school… remember the brand of ACC is as much about the total academics and athletics of the university than other conferences.
Pitt wanted in to ACC in large measure for the increase in its academic prestige as well.

Cinci is like Lville… strong athletics, weak academics…

Also does ACC care more about the midwest or locking up the northeast geographically speaking?

So who they choose will say a lot about the future focus of the conference…

I wonder how Delaney feels about the sudden stability of the ACC. I think he poached Rutgers and Maryland as part of a strategic plan to weaken the ACC in order to obtain the high profile schools such as NC or Virginia or even ND. I don’t think the additions of Rutgers and Maryland are looking that great right now.

INFO for you all not only do we have grant of rights but the new tv deal becuse ND is in acc for 5 games plus BB .
WILL NOW PAY EACH SCHOOL 20 MILLION BIG BUCKS
pitt has a good home at last.hail to pitt

Stottlemyer resigned as wrestling coach today.
The big ten has greater distribution of a diluted brand. The ACC has greater distribution of an enhanced brand. I’m nit suggesting the ACC brand is equal to the Big ten. But it’s closer now.
Nice of Mike Rice to make a name for the big ten even though entry is a year away.
Maryland. Is it still a state or did DC annex it.
Love the game with Navy. Wait until the OSU, PSU throngs of alums demand and get their games with the shell less turtles moved to DC. MD will look like the cheap prostitute it is.
UCONN would look good in the ACC. BC can’t have that much clout can they?

FROM what i read on teel time and outher places that 20 million per team starts next year.
so it is not a back loaded thing which is very
good.
with that and the grant in rights no one will leave
any time soon.way to go ACC.

so how committed is ND now to ACC? Do they still keep their football $$ to themselves?

Nice bump in $ and its own channel is still an option?

It seems to me the real threat was B10 pouching some schools… that is done and SFPITT is right… his ‘brilliant’ strategy really weakend the brand into new markets that don’t give a s$%^ about college football.

I could never see FSU and Clemson in B12 hell of 1000 mile travel to dustbowl locations around the far middle of the US… WVU had no choice, they did.

@SF, I too still would like to see UConn, solidifies the East Coast other than Jersey and Maryland (who cares). But also helps with NY when added to Syracuse. Makes the ACC the undisputed King of the Round Ball, if not already. Lately better than us on the gridiron. (sorry but true)

Can’t believe the Big 2 and little 12, took Rutgers instead of UConn. I guess they want no competition in football or basketball, although they did take Nebraska.

Disappointed that Dixon can’t seem to land a big guy. We got Ontario Lett when we were so-so, seems odd that no one wants to fit into a pretty good situation. Where’s a Chevy Troutman when you need one?

Anyway, it looks like the late spring is finally here and I am going to spend my first year of retirement on the golf course (if the lower back holds up).

Love those Hoopies. What would we do without them?! Just when it appears that the ACC news on the expansion threat is over and this blog will be bland all summer this esteemed WVU grad throws an f bomb as his first word on his new TV gig, now former TV gig–You couldn’t make this stuff up! Never underestimate the entertainment value of this former (sort of) big rival. At least the Hoopies provide humor, not the serious sad kind of interest that other former (sort of) big rival does (you know who I’m talking about-that cow college, moo, moo, psu!) HTP!

Yeah Dan… WVU in B12/10…. so travel aaaall day over 1000 miles… to a dust bowl… only to have to run your A#$ off, given the style of football, and watch teams light you up for 40+ points so you better not back off and you better score a lot of points too…

I just don’t see there being any additional teams added to the ACC. I don’t think ND will ever go all in, and neither Cincy or UConn would bring at least 20 Mil worth of revenue to make the deal worth it.
Also it’s not as if the other conferences are heading to 16, so the ACC will be at the same as the B1G and the SEC, and I think they will be content with that for the next decade.